How to describe a beer

Everyone in the beer industry has to describe a beer at one point or another. Yet we all tend to use the same language to talk about a beer’s color, flavor, and texture. In this short session on descriptive writing by Richard Croasdale of Ferment Magazine, you’ll learn how to broaden your use of language when describing a beer, making that beer (and your description) more appealing to your readers.

Transcript

1. Richard Croasdale Editor, Ferment magazine
5. “The first problem that this expanding genre of beer will have to overcome is the terminology currently used to describe it. The reason I put the word “sour” in inverted commas is because it just doesn’t have the capacity to describe the gamut of flavours and nuances that beers within this broad style can convey. Once the right terminology is in place, then the conversation about them can truly begin” - Matt Curtis
7. After a healthy bran flake breakfast we headed out onto the beach for a morning stroll, awakening the senses with a quick sniff of tiger balm and peppermint oil. As we meandered amongst the rock pools and sand we could taste the salt in the air. We eventually found ourselves at the pier with stalls selling crab meat with fresh lime juice, sugar coated nuts and sweet and salty popcorn. We ordered cappuccinos with ginger biscuits and vanilla ice cream and sat to admire the view as seagulls swooped overhead and the waves crashed against new wood of the pier’s supports.
10. The stories behind the beers
12. Sense memory